National Treasure 2: The Treasure of Charlemagne
by macpw2
Summary: What happens when Ian is released from jail and comes for revenge? What will the Gates find when they go looking for the Treasure of Emperor Charlemagne?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own National Treasure, but I do own Grace and Sam.

National Treasure 2: The Treasure of Charlemagne

Prolog

Abigail Gates stood outside her car trying to find the right key to unlock the car. She was in Philadelphia on a busyness trip of sorts. She glanced worriedly over her shoulder. It was late and she had a feeling she was being watched.

"Get a hold of yourself, Abigail!" she berated herself. She returned her gaze back to her keys. She quickly slid in the right key. Suddenly a hand clasped over her mouth and grabbed her around the waste. She blindly kicked backwards and was rewarded with a solid thud. The grip of her attacker loosened and she wrenched herself away. She turned and ran down the sidewalk only to have another man step out in front of her. She barely stopped before colliding in with him but it was too late. He reached out and grasped her wrist in an iron strong grip.

"Hello, Abigail," he said smoothly. She immediately recognized the voice.

"Ian!" she gasped. Another shadow crept up behind her and sent the butt of his gun crashing onto her head, sending her into blackness.

Chapter one

"I'm home, Dad!" shouted Grace as she trotted into the mansion.

"Ben's not here," Riley explained as he slid down the banister rail. "He went to pick up Sam from his acting class."

"Oh, thanks Rie," she replied absently as she walked up the stairs and toward her room. She dropped onto her bed. She let out a sigh and rolled over to stare at a picture that sat on her night stand. It was of her family and Riley with the National Monument sitting in the back round. Her gaze fell on her mother, Abigail.

"At least you will come home tomorrow," she said softly. Her mother had been gone for three days and everyone missed her. Grace was the second child of the Gates. She was fourteen and a year younger than her brother Samuel Gates. She got off of her bed and turned on her computer. It was Friday so she had all weekend to do her homework. She heard a creak and a hand touched her shoulder, making her flinch. She whirled around to see her older brother standing there. "Samuel Adams Gates! You are going to get it!" she yelled as she leaped up. Sam whirled around and ran down the hall with Grace racing behind him. They ran down the stairs and nearly collided with Ben.

"Be carful!" he shouted after them a smile playing across his lips. He turned and marched up two flights of stairs until he reached the attic which also served as his office. He sat down with a folder in one hand, he was head of a museum that housed some of the items that were found in the mason's treasure. He was disturbed by the wind blowing through a wind that he had left open the entire day. He walked over and was just about to close it when a powerful gust ripped through the window and through the attic. There was a slight rustling as a dusty piece of cloth slipped off of a chest. Ben's curiosity aroused, he kneeled before the antique chest. The lock was old and decrepit. He managed to brake it open with an old piece of medal he found laying in the attic. Inside was an extremely brittle map with several other sheets of yellow paper. He gently took out the old map. There were some letters on the top that might have been Greek. His heart quickened as he pulled out another sheet of paper. It was a riddle written in old English.

Thou must travel my world,

If to find the treasure you seek,

Thou must find the leak in Lombardy,

Stand before the holy place only then take Ten paces toward the holy city,

To find my treasure look to the cross when all is lost,

Humble yourself before the Lord lest you miss the mark of my word.

Emperor Charlemagne

Below that was written in a newer script:

I have copied this from the original text.

That was all, nothing about how it came to Ben's mansion or who the owner was. Ben felt the old excitement of treasure hunting rise within him. He ran over to the top of the stairs.

"Riley, kids, get up here!" he bellowed. In a matter of seconds three sets of feet could be heard pounding up the stairs.

"What is it Dad?" asked Sam as he stood in the door way panting. Soon Riley and Grace joined him.

"Come and look at this!" He bent down again by the map and paper. All three of them read the riddle on the paper.

"Wait, so there is another treasure?" asked Riley as he read the riddle.

"Of course ours wasn't the only one," said Ben with a slight laugh.

"How do we know if these are authentic?" asked Grace as she gently touched the brittle map. Three pairs of eyes turned expectantly toward Ben.

"Well, there is no way to tell, but they do look authentic, and how would they get into our house in an antique chest?" Grace smiled excitedly, a light gleaming in her eyes.

"So you think this stuff is real?"

"Possibly, your mother would be a better judge of that."

"So, what does the riddle mean, Ben?" asked Riley, who was bent over the map.

"Hmm . . . First of all we know that this riddle was composed by Charlemagne, so we would have to assume that the first line refers to the known world at that time."

"That makes sense," said Sam thoughtfully.

"What time was that?" questioned Riley.

"Around eight hundred A.D.," stated Sam with a proud expression.

"How did you know that?" demanded Riley.

"They mentioned it in school last week." Grace and Ben were both muttering the riddle under the breath. Suddenly Grace spoke up.

"Look at this map, it's not of the world, only Europe I think. Yeah, look, here is Italy." She pointed to the boot-shaped peninsula.

"Riley, do you think you could decode these letters for the cities on the map? They appear to be Greek."

"Yeah, let me get my laptop," said Riley as he stood and trotted toward the door.

"Okay we will meet you in the dinning room."

Five hours later they were all still huddled around the table in the dinning room, with plates and glass littering the table form the meager dinner they had ate. Riley was typing away at his laptop. So far they had gotten five of the maybe twenty cities transferred from Greek to English.

"Ben, didn't the riddle mention a place called Lombardy?" inquired Riley as he stared at the screen of his laptop.

"Uh, yeah it did," stated Ben who was flipping through a large history book.

"Well, then look at this!" Riley pointed with the tip of a pencil at a cluster of Greek symbols printed at the top of Italy "When these letters are translated to English they read Lombardy!"

"Now we're getting some were," said Sam in a tired tone. As soon as the words left his mouth the door bell rang.

"Now who could that be, this late at night" mumbled Ben as he got up to answer it. He flipped on the porch light and opened the door. He heard a screech of tires and saw the bob of headlights some ways off. He looked down at his feet to see a envelop with his name written elegantly on the front. He bent down and picked up and walked back to the dinning hall. Grace looked up from the map when he entered the room.

"Who was it?"

"I don't know. Whoever it was only left an envelop," he replied absently as he ripped open the envelop. It contained one sheet of paper with typing on it. He read it slowly and his heart sank. "Oh, no," he said softly. "Ian's back."

ok, I hope you liked this so far, I will try to update as often as school allows.

Mac


	2. Chapter 2

AN well here it is I hope you like it! I want to thank my reviewers you guys ROCK!

Mac

Chap 2 

"What? Ian's back!" cried Riley dismay filling his voice. Sam and Grace exchanged glances. They had of course heard of Ian and knew what he was capable of.

"And he has Abigail," said Ben as he tossed the letter onto the table.

"What!" cried Grace and Sam in unison. Riley quickly snatched up the letter while Grace and Sam gathered around him, reading the letter of his shoulder.

Hello Ben,

It is amazing how good behavior can affect your stay in jail. I have just learned that a few hours ago you discovered another treasure. I want you to bring the clues in exchange for Abigail. We will meet in the vacant warehouse over on twenty-third. Meet me there at ten o'clock. If we see even one cop, you won't see her again. I look forward to our meeting.

Ian

"Oh, man," said Riley as he leaned back against his chair. Sam and Grace both retreated back to their chairs. Grace sat there, biting at a nail. "What are we going to do, Ben?" Ben looked at the ceiling for a moment before standing up and motioning the others to follow him. He walked outside and out into the immense yard.

"Dad, what are we doing out here?" asked Sam as he shivered in the cool night.

"If Ian knew that we had found the clue then he must have the house bugged. If we need to talk about anything concerning the treasure or Abigail, we will have to do it somewhere other than inside the house. As for what to do, we'll have to give him what he wants. We won't call the FBI until after the exchange. We tell Ian what we know and leave. We will make copies of the papers, and give Ian the originals. Once we figure out where we need to go to find the next clue we will tell the FBI that is where Ian could be headed next."

"But how do we know that Ian will hold up his end of the bargain?" demanded Grace.

"He has always upheld his end of the bargain, let's just hope he does this time," replied Riley and Ben nodded in agreement.

"What about us?" asked Grace, "I will not be left behind!"

"Kids, it could be dangerous. I don't want you getting hurt," explained Ben.

"But Dad we are just as good as Riley!" protested Sam.

"Hey!" exclaimed Riley.

"Sorry Rie," said Grace absently. Riley quickly recovered and supported the kids.

"Ben, wouldn't it be better if they came? At least you would know where they were." Ben glared at him for a moment, before softening his gaze.

"Okay, besides I don't think I could stop you. But you do whatever I say or Riley says, is that clear?" Grace and Sam nodded grimly. "Now, go get some rest," he ordered. They turned and walked toward the mansion. Ben watched them go.

"You know, Ben, they are just like you," said Riley with a lopsided grin.

The next morning they all waited nervously around the TV. They were all too nervous to even think about food. Ben sat there, the brittle map and paper laying on his lap. He was trying to watch the TV, but every minute he looked at his wrist watch. Time seemed to crawl by, but finally it was time to go. As if on cue they all stood up silently and walked out to the car. Riley sat up front with Ben, while the kids took the back seat. Ben started the car and drove out of the drive way and onto the street.

"Now you know what to do right kids?"

"Yes, Dad, we don't come in and if anyone comes near the car we get out and run," said Grace as she looked at the window appearing clam even though her thoughts were leaping from one morbid thought to the next.

"I still don't see why we can't come in," growled Sam under his breath, he was reckless and wanted revenge for what Ian had done to his family. They drove the rest of the way in silence.

When they reached the warehouse, they parked opposite it. Ben and Riley walked across the street quickly and into the warehouse while Grace and Sam stared out the windows of the car. Riley walked into the warehouse with his stomach in a knot. He had the same kind of nervous excitement that he had when they had stolen the Deceleration of Independence. Riley could not read Ben's expression although he had a clam domineer. Ben peered around the building, but there was no sign of Ian. Suddenly a door opened at the opposite side of the warehouse and Ian along with two henchmen appeared. Abigail was between the two henchmen and was trying to brake free.

"Ben!" cried Abigail, joy and fear rang in her cry. Ben walked over quickly, with Riley following a little way behind. When Ben was ten feet away, Ian pulled out a gun.

"Stop right there, Ben," he ordered smoothly. Ben stopped and glared at Ian, but his gaze kept flicking to Abigail. "It's good to see you again, Ben. It's been along time." Ian donned a fake smile.

"Ian, let her go, I have what you want." Ben pulled a folder out of his jacket. Ian nodded to his two henchmen and they let Abigail go with a rough shove. She walked quickly over to Ben.

Relief was written all over his face. He and Abigail shared a quick kiss.

"Are you all right? Did they hurt you?"

"I'm fine," she replied softly.

"Ben," said Ian in and irritated tone. Ben glanced at him and walked over slowly. He handed Ian the folder. Ian holstered his gun and opened the folder reading the riddle over swiftly and glanced at the map.

"So what does it mean?" asked Ian.

"We don't know, all we know is that it is the treasure of Charlemagne and that it will have something to do with Europe," replied Ben. "Other than that you're on your own." Ben turned to leave.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Ian nodded to his two henchmen and they each grabbed hold of Ben.

"Ben!" Riley and Abigail shouted in unison.

"Run!" cried Ben. He brought his elbow back into one of his captor's stomachs. The henchman released his hold on Ben and doubled over. Ben tried to wrench himself away from the other henchman, but he pulled out a gun and held it against Ben's head. Abigail ran at Ian with Riley only a step behind. Abigail was intent on aiding Ben. Ian pulled out his gun and fired at Abigail.

"Look out!" Riley grabbed her around the waist and pulled her backwards. The bullet missed by a fraction of an inch.

Sam looked at his watch. They had been in there for fifteen minutes.

"I'm going in," announced Sam as he opened his car door.

"I thought you were never going to say that," said Grace as she opened her door and followed Sam across the street.

Ian walked over to Riley and Abigail who were now on their feet. Suddenly Sam and Grace entered at the other end of the factory.

"Well, who do we have here?" asked Ian as he stared at Sam and Grace. "You must be Samuel and Grace, how nice to meet you." Ian still had his gun out. Abigail kicked out at the gun in desperation, it flew out of Ian's hand and skidded across the floor.

"Run!" Ben shouted again and this time they obeyed. Sam and Grace ran out the door with Riley and Abigail right behind them. Ian grabbed a cell phone from his pocket and quickly dialed a number.

"They have escaped. Make sure they don't escape you!" Ian hung up, and turned to Ben.

"Don't worry you will see them again soon."


	3. Chapter 3

AN Ha I did it! I finally updated! A special thanks to my reviewers you guys ROCK!

Chapter 3

Abigail leapt into the car. Riley grabbed shot gun while the kids sat in the back. Abigail started the car and drove out on to the road.

"Mom, are you ok?" demanded the kids as Abigail drove through traffic, taking every short cut she knew.

"I'm fine," she replied her eyes fixed on the road.

"Where are we going?" asked Riley.

"Out of here for now. Ian is bound to have henchmen waiting somewhere."

"What happened in there?" asked Sam. Riley quickly recounted the events.

"Oh man what are we going to do?" said Grace as she started nibbling on her finger nail. Suddenly Abigail swerved hard, to avoid a black car that had pulled out in front of her. She continued toward the high way, but the black car kept on her tail.

"I am guessing that Ian's men are following," said Riley when he noticed Abigail kept looking over her shoulder and in the rear view mirror. She nodded. Suddenly she yanked the steering wheel to the left and drove up and on ramp and onto the open highway. The car accelerated to 75 miles per hour and wove madly through traffic.

"Mom, I didn't know you could drive like this!" said Grace. A horned blared and almost drowned out her words.

"Yeah no kidding!" cried Riley.

"You'll be surprised what happens when I'm mad." The black car's horn was blearing and adding to the chorus of angry drivers. Abigail swerved again and clipped the rear bumper of an old Jeep. They fish tailed, but Abigail righted them. The black car was only one car length behind them. "Hold on!" she cried as they U turned swerved onto another off ramp. Thankfully the black car waited to long and was stuck in traffic. Riley sighed.

"I don't believe you did that! You could have killed us!" cried Riley. Sam and Grace had death grips on the seats in front of them.

"Okay so what is this all about? Did you find another treasure?" asked Abigail ignoring Riley's comment.

"Well, Ben found a clue to the treasure of Charlemagne," stated Riley proudly. "It also came with a riddle." Abigail turned into the parking lot of a small diner.

"Come on, let's discuss this over some lunch."

It technically wasn't lunch since it was 11 o'clock in the morning but they all had hamburgers anyways. Riley, Grace, and Sam, told Abigail all they could about the treasure and the clue.

"So you do have copies of everything right?"

"Yes, but they are all at the mansion," answered Riley.

"Well, we'll have to get them back."

"Will it be safe?" asked Sam through a mouthful of hamburger.

"I'm not sure, but-" she was cut off by the sound of her cell phone ringing. She opened it. "Hello?"

"Hello Abigail, I just wanted to warn you, don't call police or you will never see Ben again." There was a click as the phone was hung up. Abigail slipped the phone into her purse.

"Our job just got harder. Ian says if we call the police he'll kill Ben." Riley sighed.

"What are we going to do?" asked Grace, she looked pale. Abigail put an arm around her shoulder.

"We will go back to the mansion and get the clues and information. Then we will figure out what the riddle means."

It was midnight when they finally went back to the mansion. They entered carefully, aware that Ian could be waiting. They had all agreed that they wouldn't speak incase the in bugs were still turned on. Grace grabbed the copies and they all packed some clothes and other personal items. Soon they were back in the car and on the road. Grace held a copy of the riddle and read it aloud to every one. Riley pulled up the information about the map on his laptop and they set to work while Abigail drove.

"Mom, where are we going?" asked Grace as she read the riddle for the fifth time.

"We are just putting some distance between us and Ian. Then we will find a hotel."


	4. Chapter 4

I finally updated, I'm sorry I didn't update sooner but here it is. Not ver much I know but now that my school is out I will be trying to work on this fic more often and a big thank you to all my reviewers!

Chapter 4

The clock read 12:05 AM. Grace returned her gaze back to the sheet of paper with the riddle written on it.

"Thou must travel my world,

If to find the treasure you seek,

Thou must find the leak in Lombardy,

Stand before the holy place only then take ten paces toward the holy city,

To find my treasure look to the cross when all is lost,

Humble yourself before the Lord lest you miss the mark of my word," she repeated to herself softly. Leak could mean one of two things, she decided. Leak could mean that there had been an information leak or it could mean a water leak or something similar to that. She quietly got out of bed and walked over to where Riley slept on the couch. She gently picked up his laptop and returned to her bed on the far side. She could not sleep and hoped Riley wouldn't mind if she used his laptop. Thankfully they were staying in a hotel with wireless access in every room. She turned on the computer and waited for it to load. She kept repeating the riddle to herself. Something was bound to come to her sooner or later. She pulled up Internet Explorer and went one of the several search engines. She quickly typed in a search phrase and began to search through the hundreds of articles.

Ben lay on the bed and let out a sigh. He had been taken to one of Ian's old hide outs where he was kept locked up. Ian visited him periodically to see what kind of progress he had made. Ben had already figured out the meaning of the riddle, but he was trying to give Abigail enough time to find the meaning and beat them there. He figured he could stall Ian another day before he would have to tell him where to go. Suddenly he was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of footsteps out side his door. He swung his legs off the bed and hurried over to the desk where he pretended to be studying. There was the sound of a key in a lock and the door swung open to reveal Ian.

"How's the riddle going, Ben?" asked Ian as he walked over and leaned against the desk.

"I am making some progress, but not a whole lot," said Ben. So far Ian had bought each of his bluffs, but he knew he couldn't keep it up for long. Ian let out a small laugh.

"After all these years you still can't bluff, now where is this riddle leading us?" he demanded.

Ben had pressed his luck and lost, he sighed and stood up. At least it had worked for a while. He picked up the two maps or Europe and showed them to Ian. "Look, here there was a segment of Charlemagne's Empire called Lombardy. Lombardy would be located around present day Turin. Close to Turin there is an old castle. Mainly a tourist attraction, but in it's history two things happened. There was a betrayal and some information got into the hands of the enemy. There was a LEAK of information. The second was at one point they gathered water in one corner of the courtyard, but there was a leak in the wall. I think that's where we need to start." Ian nodded. It seemed about right. It was at least worth a shot.

"Alright, Ben," complemented Ian. "You have earned another day of your life." With that Ian whirled around and walked out of the room.


End file.
